Twenty questions
by Lololova
Summary: Prompt found on tumblr: AU: Castle and Beckett are both miserable at a party and somehow get locked in a room or out on a balcony. My idea (the tumblr acc's, unfortunately I can't remember the name sorry!): they could play 20 questions.


_Prompt found on tumblr:_  
 _AU: Castle and Beckett are both miserable at a party and somehow get locked in a room or out on a balcony. My idea (the tumblr acc's, unfortunately I can't remember the name sorry!): they could play 20 questions._

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Kate Beckett couldn't for the life of her remember why, _why on earth_ , she'd agreed when her best friend had started to pull her out to the party she'd been invited to. Lanie Parish had come to her apartment with her tight dress, high heels and immediately scolded Kate for not being party-ready. Being surprised by her best friend's sudden burst inside her apartment she was easily overpowered by the Latina who immediately got to work on getting her into a dress and some makeup. Before she knew it, Kate was party-ready and her best friend was dragging her out of the safe walls of her home.

The second they'd gotten to the party Kate had realized her best friend hadn't told her the whole truth, she'd said it was a _small, friends only_ party. _It was not_. She was really confused about how Lanie had known about the party though. The house, _no, sorry, mansion_ , it was held at was _big_ , and Kate had no clue as to who her best friend knew that could get them into this place. Lanie had gotten them drinks the first thing she did, said Kate had to "loosen up" and "have some fun for once". Kate had rolled her eyes, same eyes that had widened big when she saw there was a _bar_.

Lanie had tried to get her to join her on the dance floor but she refused by getting another drink and saying she couldn't leave the drink without finishing it up first. Her best friend had almost dragged her out of her seat at the bar but before she could a guy had shown up asking if she wanted to dance. Kate had almost kissed the guy to steal her best friend's attention away from her, but celebrated with a sip on her drink instead.

The second her best friend was off she finally relaxed, _and_ started thinking of how in the _hell_ she'd gotten there in the first place. Sure, she was twentyfour years old but that didn't mean she always wanted to go out and party! She was a stay-at-home-girl. She preferred reading a good book or working on her cases. _Not_ pulling on a dress, heading out to drink and dance and share sweat with a bunch of other people. What she despised the most? _Oh,_ guys continuing to hit on her. Often they backed off the second she said she was a cop. And if they didn't, and they got too handsy, she just simply floored them. After that they ran away with all the rest that had intended on hitting on her.

"You want another?" the bartender asked when her glass had been empty for a minute.

"No, thanks," she shook her head and the bartender pointed at her glass, silently asking if he should take it.

She nodded and raised from the seat. It didn't take her long to spot her best friend on the dance floor with the guy who'd asked her to dance. Lanie was laughing and she looked so carefree that Kate couldn't find it in herself to go and say she would leave. Which, much to her disappointment, meant she couldn't leave the party just yet. _Damnit_. Craving some silence she tried to find her luck by going upstairs, thought maybe the sound would dampen the further away she got from the first floor.

The second she realized there were speakers imbedded in the walls even on the second floor she quickly turned her step and walked back down the stairs. Looking around she noticed there were stairs going down further too and immediately took the shot, walking downstairs to what she presumed to be a basement. The sound was actually getting lower as she was and it was like music to her ears, ironically. To her small disappointment though, it didn't disappear enough. Putting her back against one of the walls she sighed and ran a hand down her face to calm down. When her hands was out of her eyes she spotted the door right in front of her. _Wine cellar?_ Smirking she looked back towards the stairs, no one had followed her.

She pushed her body away from the wall and towards the door, finding it unlocked she peeked inside. Since it wasn't locked and she was on the list of people being invited, this couldn't be considered a break-in if she was careful not to touch anything she shouldn't. Seeing there was no one inside she took one last glance towards the stairs before walking inside and leaving the door half opened. In case the owner would show up asking what she was doing in there she could simply say the door had been open and she needed some time alone. She found a corner without shelves of wine and sat down on the floor to lean her back against it. With a sigh of relief she had actually found a place of peace and quiet. She could barely hear the music from there and she took out her phone to check her messages.

Kate Beckett had been surprised when her captain had caught her with files she shouldn't be around and, instead of kicking her off the force, had given her a chance to become a homicide detective instead. She hadn't expected there to be any messages considering she had the day off, which her captain had been so insisting to give her. Rolling her eyes she put down her phone again and leaned her head to the wall, closing her eyes to allow herself a break from everything.

"Oh, hi."

The sudden voice had her body jerk unnaturally as her eyes popped open and her hand went to her hip, where her gun usually was.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!" the guy held up his hands in a none threatening way.

Leaning forward she sighed out as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry, are you the owner? I didn't steal anything, I just needed to get away from the music for a while." Her excuse was out her mouth even before the guy could confirm or deny being the owner. She wanted to explain herself as quickly as she could without getting accused of anything she didn't do.

"Oh, no, I'm not the owner, I am a friend of the owner though. Got down here to grab a bottle of wine," he pointed with his thumb towards one of the shelves.

She nodded and restrained to stand up. "So, you gonna kick me out of here or do you think I could stay here for a little while longer?"

As he started looking through the wine bottles he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think he'd mind. Mind telling me why are you hiding though?" he asked carefully.

She looked up at him again, looked more closely this time. He looked like a few years older than her, maybe thirty? He had brown hair and she couldn't stop the thought of wondering if it was as thick and soft as it looked. If Lanie had been there she would've gone on and on about what an amazing body he had, and she had to have had to agree. He looked handsome. When his blue eyes reached her hazels she suddenly remembered he'd been asking a question while she was checking him out.

Clearing her throat she looked away, answered while avoiding eye contact. "Not really your business."

"Okay, now I'm intrigued," he said and without any warning he took out a bottle of wine and sat down right in front of her, popping the bottle open. She wrinkled her forehead and he held out the bottle for her. "Wine?"

Glancing between the bottle and the guy holding it she narrowed her eyes. "Uh, no thanks."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged his shoulders and took a sip out of the bottle. "How come you're down here instead of up there dancing? Because I can't find a reason if it's not to drink wine."

Sighing she rolled her eyes and leaned back to the wall. "Let's just say I was prepared for a night in and my best friend had another idea. Now, please, I went down her to be alone."

He nodded with a small smile. "Of course, I'll leave you to it. But don't hesitate to grab a bottle of wine. If Weldon asks tell him I'll pay for it." And with a wink he stood up and walked towards the door.

Just before he got there he stopped dead frozen as a click went through the room. Kate looked up with wide eyes. _Was that?_ The guy jumped for the door and tugged on the knob. When it didn't open the door he started knocking on it and Kate groaned. _Shit_.

"Hey!" he yelled out and when no one had come to their rescue when he'd shouted and knocked for a couple minutes she decided to tell him to stop. "Someone could walk by," he defended himself and she shook her head.

"When there's a party upstairs? I don't think so," she said and to her surprise he sat back down in front of her.

"How come you're so calm? What do you work with?" he asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Not important. How about you call your friend and get us out of here," she suggested and he chuckled. "What?"

"Our phones don't have any connection down here," he said and she wrinkled her forehead.

"Of course they do," she picked up her phone again. Her eyes widened, _how had she not seen the no reception before?_ "Or... not."

"So, we're stuck here till someone craves wine," he said and she groaned. _Why did she have to get stuck in a wine cellar with a guy who kept asking hundreds of questions?_ "How about we do something?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose again with her eyes clenched. "Right, like what? Ooh, how about we play the silence game?" she asked with a sarcastic tone.

"What's the silence game?" he asked, his voice indicating he was thrilled by the sound of a game and she almost laughed.

"It's about being quiet, the one who's quiet the longest wins," she explained and he immediately gave her a look.

"Lame, okay, how about twenty questions?" he suggested instead and she shook her head.

There was no way in hell she'd agree to answer questions from a complete stranger just because they were locked into the same room. He pleaded but she refused, and after a few minutes of begging she told him to shut it or she would shut it for him. He immediately shut up after that. And to her surprise he stayed quiet, drinking his wine as he planted his back towards the side of a shelf right in front of her. She couldn't stop glancing at him every now and then. Caught herself tracing his features with her eyes, putting every line into her memory.

"You checking me out officer?" his eyes suddenly snapped to hers, catching her before she could look away.

"What? No." Her voice was high toned and she knew he knew she was lying and so she cleared her throat in order to change topic. "And I'm not an officer."

He hummed for a few seconds before he parted his lips again. "Military?" he questioned and she raised her brows. "You gotta work within something where you can beat me into silence without getting into too much trouble."

She just rolled her eyes and leaned her head back again, closing her eyes. It only took another minute before he was talking again and she interrupted him with an irritated, "You can't be quiet?"

"Nope," he popped the 'p'. "So, why not amuse me and play twenty questions? Then you'll at least get something out of it."

After another few minutes of silence she opened her eyes with a sigh. _Might as well_. "Fine. But I go first." He met her eyes with an excitement in his blues and she was already regretting her decision.

"Shoot," he said with a grin starting to develop on his lips.

Biting her lip she decided she wanted to know who this guy was. "What's your name?"

"Richard, but please, call me Rick. Only my mother calls me by my full name." He scrunched his nose and she couldn't stop the small smile from pulling at her lips. "What's yours?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Kate."

"That short for Katherine?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Nuh-uh, it's my turn." Her smile turned into a smirk when he pouted. "Who were you getting the wine for?"

To her amusement he rolled his eyes. "I don't even know, some girls and a few guys but I'm sure they decided I bailed and went for the bar instead." _Oh, so no one who would look after him_. "Now, what _do_ you work with?"

She bit her lip before she told him her profession. They kept taking turns on asking questions, and Kate kept hoping someone would open the door before he asked the next one but to her irritation no one came. Soon they were at question number fifteen and it was getting harder and harder to come up with easy questions. When it was his turn he looked down and she could see he was trying real hard to think about his next question. What she couldn't tell, though, was if he already had a question that he was contemplating whether to ask or not, or if he didn't have one and was trying to come up with it. Before she could part her lips and tease him for not coming up with a question, _yes, tease him, they have gotten a lot more open than she would've liked_ , he looked up at her with his mouth opened.

"Are you a virgin?"

She raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not. Are you?" she shot the question back and she was almost surprised when he looked relieved. _Had he thought she would hit him for asking?_ She honestly didn't care.

"No. When was your first time?" He was suddenly all alive and sitting up straighter to lean forward, placing himself a bit closer to her.

"I was eighteen, thought it was love, it was not," she said and sipped the wine.

She'd given in by the seventh question, telling him to hand her the wine. She didn't even care that they were, technically, sharing the same germs now that they were drinking from the same bottle.

"When was yours?" she asked back, feeling a bit tipsy she was actually kind of intrigued to know the answer.

He _was_ handsome, she couldn't deny that at all, and those blue eyes were really deep and kind of drown-worthy. They reminded her of the calm sea.

"I was sixteen, she was older and when she asked I was way too willing to give it to her," he chuckled and reached out for the bottle. She took a quick sip before she gave it back to him.

"Your turn," she reminded him after he'd been quiet for a couple of minutes.

He hummed and she waited for him to voice the next question. "What's your hottest sexual fantasy?"

She laughed, "You can't come up with more non-sexual questions?" He lifted his shoulders in an innocent shrug and she rolled her eyes with a smile on her lips. She found herself not having any troubles at all with this total stranger asking her personal questions. _Well, not really total strangers anymore_. But he was kind of cute. _And sexy_ , a small voice added in the back of her mind. "My hottest sexual fantasy would be..." she thought about it and hummed.

Right before she could voice it there was a click and both of them looked towards the door opening up. Kate couldn't help but laugh at the disappointment mirrored all over Rick's face as he realized she did not have to answer the question anymore. They'd agreed they would stop, no matter if they were in the middle of a question, as soon as they were rescued from the wine cellar.

"There you are, Ricky! Thank god I found you before you got to the good wine," a guy said as he walked into the room and spotted them. "Oh, and you found a friend!"

Rick faked a smile towards the other guy. "Weldon! Thank god you finally unlocked the door, it's getting kind of cold in here."

 _Ah, so this was the owner_. Kate stood up on her feet and started walking towards the door, she felt her previous lock-up companion tracing her heels immediately and she thanked the guy by the door for a great party before she slipped by. She heard Rick saying something to the guy but didn't really pay attention, she focused on getting upstairs to where the music was still blasting from every speaker in the house. Before she could head out to try and find her best friend again she found a hand wrapping around hers to stop her steps.

"Hey, you wanna dance?" Rick asked when he tugged her hand to turn her around.

She ran her teeth over her bottom lip as she considered it. His blues flickered down to her lips and she felt a tingle spark in her belly. "Okay, but only one dance, then I gotta go home," she agreed and he immediately broke out into a big smile. He tugged her hand again, this time in direction to the dance floor, and she didn't hesitate to follow him out there starting to dance with him.

Once the song was over she stopped and so did he. She couldn't stop the small smile from hanging onto her lips as she tried to get herself to say goodbye. Suddenly she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she picked it up in order to look at the message she'd gotten from her best friend. Lanie was telling her she was on her way home with that guy she danced with, that she hoped Kate had gotten home alright and to text her back A.S.A.P. so that she knew she was okay. Kate immediately did, but she said she was home, thinking she didn't want her best friend to think she was still at the party despite Lanie not being able to find her.

"Can I walk you home?" Rick suddenly asked and she looked up at him, surprise in her eyes.

"Sure," she agreed and the guy didn't wait to tangle his fingers with hers and leading her out of there.

They talked on their way to her apartment. About everything and nothing. This time they didn't play twenty questions though, but simply asked from the heart and kept the conversation up when it wanted to, let it be quiet when they didn't have anything to say. Once they stood outside her building she was contemplating if she should invite him up. She wanted to, _god knew she did_. But she also wasn't interested in a one night stand, never really had been. And so, she stood before him, rubbing her arms across her chest.

"Well, thank you for walking me home, and for keeping me company in that cellar," she said and he chuckled.

"Anytime, just glad none of us was in there alone." She chuckled at that too, _yeah, that would've been miserable_. Looking up at him she could see a small question in his eyes and she cocked her head in askance. "Can I kiss you?"

She was a bit taken aback by the question, actually _took_ a step back at the sudden suggestion. His eyes immediately left hers in embarrassment as he tried to wave it off, saying he was sorry and didn't mean to intrude.

"Sure," she suddenly burst out, interrupting his apology and he looked at her with wide blues.

"Really?" he asked again and this time she simply nodded, biting her lower lip in nerves.

He leaned down slowly, and stilled when he was so close their noses were touching and his lips was almost nudging hers. That made her belly flip and she stepped onto her toes, claiming his lips with hers. The kiss was sweet and gentle and, _god,_ she'd never been kissed like that before. He was paying attention to her lips in a way that genuinely made her think he cared for the way it felt as much as he did. He wasn't just kissing her to kiss her, to take her lips, but he was attending to her as if she was the only thing he ever wanted to touch. They parted lips simultaneously and their tongues met in a slow but heated dance. She felt his arms go round to her back and pulled her closer to him as he savored the taste of her. He tasted of wine, beer and something else that she suspected was only him. They pulled away for air but kept their foreheads touching for a few more minutes before they parted bodies. She bit her lip in a try to prevent the big smile from entering her lips but she knew, by the look in his eyes, he knew exactly how amazing it had felt. She could also see he felt the same way.

"I wanna see you again." He confessed on a breath. "Will you go out on a date with me?"

She licked her tingling lips and reached into his pocket to grab his phone. Taking it out she went into his text messages and sent one to her phone, feeling it vibrate in her pocket.

"Now you have my number, call me tomorrow," she said and he was smiling with his teeth all on display.

"Okay."

She stepped on her toes and pecked his lips again before walking to her building door, opening it as she glanced back at him. "Night, Rick."

Just before the door closed she could hear him call right back to her. "Until tomorrow."

 _THE END_

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 _A/N: Okay, soooooo, here you go, another one shot. This was written all in one evening just because I wanted to give you something tonight so excuse all my errors (there usually are a lot of them I know, but I have a feeling there could be more than usual in this one) but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Also, the reason I haven't been much active with what I'm writing next is because I'm working on a new multi-chap plus my school just started. So please be patient and I hope you enjoy everything I will manage to write in between studies. Until next time xxx_


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